More snow this week along with milder temperatures

Snow has fallen in Montreal on 12 of the 13 days so far this month. Amounts have not been all that impressive, with only 17.4cm falling at Trudeau Airport. Despite the light amounts, roads have often been icy and snow covered, with numerous accidents occurring across the region. You do not need a large accumulation of snow for dangerous travel conditions. Light amounts of snow often create very slippery roads and black ice. (Valley Weather Photo)

The active weather pattern will persist this week across southern Ontario and Quebec, with several weak systems impacting our weather. Monday morning features a clipper type low pressure moving across the region, accompanied by occasional light snow. The snow will make the roads greasy and messy as it did over the weekend, but will only amount to a couple of centimetres at best.

The one concern will be Monday afternoon along a trailing cold front. There is the chance for a few isolated snow squalls, that could produce brief heavy snow and gusty winds, reducing visibility. The best chance in the Montreal region will be between 3-6pm this afternoon. Along and behind the cold front, winds will back to the northwest and gust up to 40km/h.

Temperatures will be mild today, just below the freezing point in Montreal, and remain above normal for most of the upcoming week. Highs will be in the 0C to -4C (25 to 32F) range, with overnight lows around -8C (18F). If we manage any clearing overnight this week, with fresh snow cover, we may see some minus teens.

The week will remain unsettled, with several areas of weak low pressure moving rapidly from west to east. While precipitation amounts have been below normal so far in January, we have received at least a trace of snow everyday since the start of the month, with the exception of last Friday. As a result, 17.4cm of fresh snow has fallen at Trudeau Airport, with as much as 25cm in other parts of southern Quebec.

A stronger storm system is possible by next Saturday, followed by a significant push of arctic air. I will post more on that later, as well as an update on the devastating fires in southern California.